Next Step for Shoreham: Open It

Published: December 3, 1988

When it came down to this week's deadline, the New York Legislature decided that Long Islanders feared high electric costs more than nuclear power. Instead of acting boldly on this new perception by turning down an agreement to decommission the Shoreham nuclear power plant and putting the $5 billion-plus facility to productive use, they left town.

No doubt the legislators hope that ratepayers will blame Governor Cuomo, not them, for the nuclear presence and the high cost of removing it. But Mr. Cuomo can still win on two fronts, shrewd politics and wise policy. There was and is only one sensible thing to do with Shoreham: Make electricity.

Two facts about Shoreham are basic. The plant, incorporating all safety features now required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is safer than others now in operation. Second, except for cost overruns through faulty management, the basic value of the plant is ultimately payable by Lilco's customers under rate formulas of the Public Service Commission.

When Governor Cuomo recognized Long Island's resistance to the plant, he instituted a policy of planned neglect of all steps required for a Federal operating permit. The refusal of local authorities to participate in evacuation planning led Lilco finally to negotiate the agreement with the Governor. In return for giving up Shoreham, the utility would be allowed to raise electric rates 63 percent over 10 years.

Acknowledging Long Islanders' fear of high rates, and certain that Republican state senators from Long Island would blame him for them, Mr. Cuomo insisted that the Legislature accept joint responsibility for the buyout plan. By refusing to play, the Legislature appears to think he can be made solely responsible for the future rate rises.

The Legislature is clever, but the Governor still holds the winning ace. He is able to point out that, since the deadline passed without legislative action, the power of decision has been handed by the Legislature to Lilco. The utility will, of course, try to win its nuclear operating license. Meanwhile, any time it finds the buyout more attractive it can change its course.

Governor Cuomo properly contends that without legislative approval the agreement he proposed is no agreement, leaving Lilco no choice but to push ahead toward operating Shoreham. The Legislature has, in effect, given tacit assent to Lilco's application to open the plant as preferable to the buyout. Playing this ace, the Governor not only can restore a political balance in his favor. He can also help assure Long Islanders of what they will otherwise have trouble achieving: an adequate, safe source of power.